Maersk steps up decarbonization of its fleet with new order for ships

COPENHAGEN, Aug. 24 (Reuters) – AP Moller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) on Tuesday announced that it has ordered eight vessels capable of running on carbon-neutral methanol to accelerate the decarbonization of its fleet and meet growing customer demand for transportation more ecological. .

The Danish company is committed to ordering only new ships that can use carbon neutral fuel, as it seeks to produce net zero emissions by 2050. As ships typically have a lifespan of 20 to 35 years , this means that they must be carbon neutral. fleet by 2030.

The eight ships, which can each carry 16,000 containers, will be built by South Korea’s Hyundai Heavy Industries (267250.KS) and are expected to be delivered in early 2024.

The ships will be 10-15% more expensive than normal ships and cost $ 175 million each, said Maersk Fleet Technology Manager Ole Graa Jakobsen.

The new ships will be equipped with engines that can run on both green methanol, produced using renewable sources such as biomass and solar power, as well as normal bunker fuel, as there is still not enough carbon neutral fuel available on the market. .

So-called green methanol can be produced either directly from biomass or via renewable hydrogen combined with carbon from biomass or carbon capture.

Maersk said more than half of its top 200 customers, such as Amazon, Disney and Microsoft, have set or are in the process of setting targets for reducing emissions in their supply chain.

“We are there for our customers… and luckily they are very grateful and demand is really increasing,” Morten Bo Christiansen, head of decarbonization at Maersk, told reporters.

Maersk said the new ships would result in annual CO2 emissions savings of around 1 million tonnes, a reduction of almost 3%. Last year, Maersk emitted 33 million tonnes of CO2.

With around 90% of global trade transported by sea, global maritime transport accounts for nearly 3% of global CO2 emissions.

The Danish company said this month that it has signed a contract guaranteeing green methanol to operate its first carbon-neutral vessel in 2023 as a first step to tackling challenges of ensuring adequate supplies. Read more

Reporting by Stine Jacobsen; edited by Kirsten Donovan, Jason Neely and David Evans

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